Ronin Warriors: Ancient New Warriors
by Maria-Elric05
Summary: The Ronin Warriors thought that their days of fighting were over. A new leader has taken over the Dynasty and has come to claim their world as well as the Nether Realm. And what's more, they also meet 2 mysterious young women who are more than they seem. Pairings: Sage/OC, Rowen/OC, Cye/OC, Kento/OC, Ryo/OC
1. Chapter 1: A New Destiny

**Ronin Warriors**

_By: Ashly Hayes 09/30/10_

The sun was just coming up over the horizon. The day was dawning bright and beautiful. People were milling about their day, doing their daily errands and chores. Some were even heading from work or were just leaving for work. To everyone it was going to be a very good day and nothing would be able to ruin it. Unfortunately, they were wrong. The day was just beginning and they had no idea how many things could go wrong.

A group of guys were outside with a young boy and a white tiger. Some of the guys were sparring with each other while another was playing with the little boy and the tiger. All of them were having fun of course and they also believed it to be another beautiful, calm day just as every other day had been since the fall of Tulpa and his Dynasty. They too didn't know just how wrong they were.

Not too far away stood two young female figures, about the same age as the five young men that they were watching.

"Miya, is that them? Are they the Ronin Warriors?" asked the one with long blue hair down to her waist.

"Yes Ashiyu, they are. The very Ronin's who defeated Tulpa and the Dynasty." said the one with long red hair slightly past her waist.

"Wow. They seem so young to have seen so much already and fight an evil like that. That's more than anyone should have asked of them." said Ashiyu.

"Yes, it is. No one their age should have to even see an evil like he was but were we not just as young when we first encountered such evil? Or when we had our first battle?" asked Miya.

"Yeah, but those were different times Miya, very different times. We grew up with violence, but those times have changed now. They shouldn't have to know the things that we grew up knowing or see the things that we've seen over the years." said Ashiyu.

"Yeah, you're right. Those indeed were different times. However, they may be young but these men accepted their fate and went beyond things any normal human being would be capable of." said Miya.

"Yeah, you're right as always my dear friend. I just can't wait to meet them face to face though, especially the one who holds the Armor of Strata." said Ashiyu.

"I already know how you've had eyes on him my dear Ashiyu. Have patience. You'll meet him soon enough. Maybe even sooner than you think if all goes according to plan." said Miya.

"You think that my brother will even show?" asked Ashiyu.

"If I know Yuri, he won't be able to help himself. He's waited years for an opportunity like this. He has wanted a challenge, so we will give him his challenge. We'll give him one that he will never forget." said Miya.

"I hate to think that I'm going to be fighting against my brother, my own flesh and blood but he's left me with no choice. He needs to be stopped before it's too late. I won't simply stand by anymore." said Ashiyu.

"I know it's hard on you my dear friend, but you have made the right decision. It may not seem like it but you have. I'm sure that if your family was here to see you now, they would be very proud of the woman you have become." said Miya.

"Yes, I know. And I'm sure your family would be proud of the woman that you have grown to be as well, especially your father. I'm sure he would be extremely proud of you." said Ashiyu.

"I'm sure he would. I just wish he was here. I miss him so much." said Miya.

"I know you do. I know how much you miss your father and how much you wish that you could have saved him, but there was nothing that you could have done. Your father made his choice to sacrifice himself for Kayura to save her from Tulpa's hold. He did what he had to. You should be proud of him. He broke free of Tulpa and even did a lot of good before he died." said Ashiyu.

"I know he did, and I am proud of him. I just wish that we could have had time to rekindle our relationship. I just wish that I would have gotten to see him at least one last time before he died. There was so much we still had left to say to each other, so much that I still want to tell him. Now he'll never know." said Miya sadly.

"I'm sure whatever it is that you wanted to tell him, I'm sure that he already knows. I'm sure that he's looking down on you right now, watching over you and smiling at how proud of you he is." said Ashiyu.

Suddenly, the sky grew dark and everyone stopped what they were doing to stare up at the sky. It seemed like everything had grow silent. Even the birds were quiet. It was almost eerie. The only thing that broke the silence was a loud growl from the tiger.

"What is it Whiteblaze?" asked Yulie.

"Something's wrong. He smells something, something bad." said Ryo. He would know. Whiteblaze was his tiger.

"What do you think it is?" asked Cye.

"Well whatever it is, I don't think that it's friendly." said Rowen.

"Guys, what's going on? Why did it get so dark all of a sudden?" asked Mia as she stepped outside to see what was going on.

"Mia, get back inside!" yelled Ryo, concerned for her safety.

Just then, a flash of light that looked like a lightning bolt appeared in the clouds and started to come down where Mia stood.

"Mia!" yelled Ryo, running toward her and pulling her out of the way just in time as the bolt hit where she had been moments before. "You okay?" he asked as he stood.

"Yeah, thanks Ryo." said Mia as Ryo helped her to her feet.

Right then, they heard an almost cruel laugh and turned to see a man with long, jet black hair standing nearby, a sword in hand.

"Who is that?" asked Kento.

"I don't know, but I think we're about to find out." said Sage.

Yulie moved closer to Whiteblaze. He knew what was about to take place and knew that the tiger was better protection than nothing at all.

"You five must be the Ronin Warriors. I've heard so much about you. Pity though really. You boys don't look like much of a challenge to me." said the man.

"We'll give you all the challenge you want pal!" yelled Kento angrily.

"Easy Kento." said Ryo. Being the leader, he knew that he needed to keep his guys cool and calm so they could think straight and defend themselves.

"Who are you?" asked Cye.

"Oh, forgive me. How rude. My name is Yuri. I have taken over for Tulpa as the leader of the Dynasty. And here soon, I will also be ruler of this world." said the man.

"Not in this lifetime Yuri!"

Everyone turned to see a young woman with long red hair standing up on top of Mia's roof, a staff in one hand and two swords on her back.

"Miya, how good to see you again. Now, where is that dear sweet sister of mine?" asked Yuri.

"Right behind you my brother."

Yuri turned to see another young woman, this one looking to be younger than the first and with similar long hair to Yuri, but the color of hers was blue instead of black. She had a bow and arrow in her hands, ready and aimed straight at Yuri.

"Ah little Ashiyu, tell me, how have you been? Pleasant I hope after all these years." said Yuri.

"Save the act Yuri, no one's buying it. Go back to the Nether Realm where you belong and stay there." said Miya.

"Why? I just got here, and I plan on staying." said Yuri, raising his sword straight up and five more lightning bolts came down out of the clouds, coming down at each of the five Ronin Warriors.

Miya held out her staff and all five of the lightning bolts were immediately drawn into her staff and absorbed.

"You're going to have to do better than that Yuri." said Miya.

"Ask and you shall receive." said Yuri. He snapped his fingers and almost instantly, an army of armored soldiers come out of nowhere.

"Dynasty Soldiers; oh man, not these tin cans again." said Kento.

"Yes and these ones are stronger than the ones you faced before. Have fun kiddies." said Yuri as he jumped up.

Ashiyu tried to shoot him with her arrow but she missed as her brother vanished into thin air. Miya jumped down from the roof, sticking her staff in the ground than pulling out the two swords.

"Sage, Ryo!" she yelled, tossing them to the two swordsmen who caught them.

Ryo and Sage used the swords to slice up and fend off any of the Dynasty Soldiers that came at them. The other three Ronin Warriors fought without weapons.

Miya had pulled her staff out of the ground and now she and Ashiyu were fighting side by side with the Ronin's, destroying soldier after soldier until there were none left.

Once all of the Dynasty Soldiers were gone, the five Ronin Warriors turned their attention to the two women standing before them.

"Who are you guys? And who was that guy? What's his deal?" asked Kento.

"My name is Miya Dohji, and this is Ashiyu Tanaka. As you heard, she is Yuri's younger sister. Yuri took over for the Dynasty after you five defeated Tulpa." said Miya.

"He just didn't want to show his face until now. He was biding his time, waiting." said Ashiyu.

"Why? What was he waiting for?" asked Cye.

"He was waiting for this." said Miya, pulling a chain out of her shirt to reveal an amulet. "This is the Amulet of Light. It holds a great deal of power and whoever has possession of it can use it for good, or for evil. Yuri wants it so he may rule both worlds. There are already some in the Nether Realm who are questioning his power. Any one of them could try to overthrow him. That's why he seeks this amulet. With it, no one would dare to question his power."

"And yet you have possession of it. So why come after us? We knew nothing of the amulet until now." said Rowen.

"Yuri came after you because he sees you as a threat to him trying to rule this realm. He fears you, therefore he will try to get rid of you to make it easier for him to rule this world." said Ashiyu. She knew her brother better than anyone.

"And the Amulet of Light can't be used by just anyone. It has to choose its bearer. Yuri doesn't yet know that I have the amulet but when he does find out, he will do anything and everything he can to use me, to try to get me to turn." said Miya, tucking the amulet safely back into her shirt.

"You mean, try to get you to join the Dynasty that way he can get you to use the amulet to his advantage." said Sage. It was a statement, not a question.

"And if that happens, you might as well kiss your world goodbye." said Ashiyu.

"Well that's not going to happen, not as long as the Ronin Warriors are around." said Kento.

"You always were the one ready for a fight Kento." said Ashiyu with a smile.

"Wait, you know about me?" asked Kento.

"Of course, we've been watching over you ever since you guys became the Ronin Warriors. How do you think the Ancient always knew where to be at the right time?" asked Ashiyu.

"He just forbade us from ever intervening, no matter how much we wanted to do so. He even warned us to keep our distance and stay out of sight." said Miya.

"Why would he do that?" asked Ryo.

"It was because of my father. My father was one of the Dark Warlords. The Ancient was afraid of what could happen if I were to have to face my father. He knew that I wouldn't be able to fight against him and win." said Miya.

"Because you wouldn't want to hurt him, and you wouldn't allow anyone else to harm him either." said Sage.

"Wait, you said that your father was one of the Dark Warlords." said Ryo.

"Just out of curiosity, which one of them was your father?" asked Kento.

"Yes, I did say that my father was one of the Warlords. As a matter of fact, he used to be their leader until he turned against them and turned good thanks to the Ancient helping him to see the truth. He was known as the Warlord of Cruelty then." said Miya.

"Wait, you're saying that your father was Anubis?" exclaimed Ryo.

"Yes, I am. And I'm not ashamed of it either. I was always proud of my father before Tulpa gained control over him. He did what he could for my mother, myself and for our village. Sadly though, I haven't seen him since I was a child. The last time I saw of my father, he was riding away for another battle. When the other soldiers came back but he didn't, I knew that something had happened, but I also knew that he wasn't dead. I could feel it. My mother and I had to cope with the fact that my father was missing and we probably wouldn't see him again. It was some years before I learned that it was Tulpa and his evil Dynasty who had taken my father from me. I started training myself to fight to get him back." Miya paused, swallowed a lump in her throat before continuing.

"However, things didn't work out the way that I had hoped. Our village was attacked, everyone in it killed. My mother and I tried to run but she was killed before my eyes, protecting me. Then I could only watch as my village was burned to the ground. I was the only survivor. I found out later on that it was also Tulpa and the Dynasty that was responsible for the destruction of my village. I sought revenge and if it weren't for the Ancient, I would have only gotten myself killed.

"Ashiyu heard of what happened and she found me. She promised to even help me find my father and free him. That's when we joined the Ancient on his quest to destroy the Dynasty. For the years that my father had been missing, I believed that Tulpa had only captured him and was holding him prisoner. In a way, I was right. I learned from the Ancient that he was one of Tulpa's Warlords, as well as seeing it with my own eyes when I saw him after Rowen broke him helmet with his arrow." said Miya.

"I can only imagine how that made you feel." said Ryo, feeling some sympathy for her. After all, she had only been a child when her father disappeared than she learns that he's an evil Warlord. That would be hard on anyone.

"Yeah, it was tough. I heard about all the good he did to help you guys in defeating Tulpa the second time." said Miya.

"Yeah, and he even sacrificed himself to save Kayura." said Rowen.

"I heard. She was the last of the Ancients. He felt that he had to save her. Plus, I'm sure that even dead, the Ancient wouldn't allow the last of his clan to be struck down without having anything to say about it." said Miya.

"It's just too bad that he had to give up his life so that he could save her. He was so alive in his final moment's though." said Ryo.

"But now I am more alive than ever Ronin's."

Everyone turned towards the voice and watched as a figure stepped out of the shadows, a figure that they all recognized immediately.

"Anubis!" exclaimed Yulie happily, running to the man that had once tried to kill them but then had changed his ways and did so much to help them greatly before they watched him give his life and hugged him. "You're alive!"

"Yes little one, that I am." said Anubis.

"But how? We all watched you fall off the bridge into the water." said Mia.

"The Amulet of Light, it brought me back. It brings back anyone that the bearer so chooses but only if it sees fit that the person should be brought back. Miya didn't even know anything of my resurrection until now. The amulet brought me back so that I may have a second chance with my daughter." said Anubis, looking over at his daughter as he spoke the last part.

Silence fell. To give her friend and Anubis some private time, Ashiyu directed the Ronin Warriors, Mia and Yulie all headed inside, Whiteblaze following behind them, leaving father and daughter alone.

Miya had no idea what to say. This came as a surprise to her. She didn't expect to ever see her father again, not alive anyway. Yet here he was, standing before her looking very much alive as he had the last time she saw him. She could feel tears stinging her eyes, threatening to make themselves known but she fought them back. She didn't want her father to see her cry. She tried to make them go away but they wouldn't until finally she let them spill from her eyes.

"Dad!" she cried, throwing herself forward into his arms, her face buried against his shoulder. She could feel her tears soaking his shirt but he didn't seem to care.

"I'm here now Miya. Everything's going to be alright now and I swear to you, I will _never_ leave you again. I promise you, I will _not _waste this second chance. I should never have been so foolish. I know that I can never really make it up to you. I should have never left you and your mother. I should have been a better father; I should have always been there for you. I feel as though I failed you." said Anubis.

"Oh dad, you didn't fail me. You couldn't have known what was going to happen, none of us could have. Things happen. Besides, all that is in the past. What matters now is that we've been given a second chance." said Miya, moving her head off her father's shoulder and staring up into his face.

Anubis couldn't help but smile.

"I knew that I raised my little girl right. And I am so proud of you." he said.

"Thanks dad. I have never forgotten what you taught me when I was little and I always lived and done things that I knew you would be proud of. I never wanted to disappoint you. I wanted you to always be proud of me, even if I never got to see you again." said Miya.

"I know. And I have _always_ been proud of you. You have never disappointed me and you never could. I wish I could have made better choices in my life, for you but I can't take back the mistakes that I have made. All I can do is do my best not to make those mistakes again. And I don't plan on making them ever again. You are what is most important in my life now. And I'm never going to hurt you again." said Anubis.

"I know dad." said Miya, smiling up at her father.


	2. Chapter 2: The Battle Begins

Over the next few days, Yuri did not make anymore appearances nor did he send any of his minions to attack so over those few days. Miya and Ashiyu made sure that the Ronin's as well as Anubis trained since it had been a while since they had last had to fight the Dynasty plus they knew that they needed to get stronger if they hoped to beat Yuri and the Dynasty. They knew that Yuri was stronger than the Ronin's thought he was and that he would be a challenge for all of them to defeat, even working together.

Miya knew that Yuri was just waiting for the most opportune moment to attack. He was good at waiting until his target was least expecting it. That's what made him such a threat to them. She wanted to be sure that they were all ready for anything that Yuri would have to throw at them. She didn't want any one of them to be struck down unexpectedly because one of them let their guard down. She knew that the Ronin's were getting restless from having to train for three days straight but she didn't feel like they were ready to face Yuri and she had even told them that.

"Come on, why do we have to bother with this stupid training? Why can't we just go take care of Yuri and the Dynasty right now?" asked Kento.

Suddenly, Miya came out of nowhere and used her staff to knock Kento's legs out from under him and making him fall to the ground.

"You can't because you're not ready yet. You have to always keep your guard up, you have to be ready for anything, you have to be able to move with more speed, you need to expect the expected, and you need to have patience. When I feel that you are ready, when **I say **that you are ready, only then will you be ready." said Miya.

"Yeah, well, you don't need to be so rough about it." said Kento as he started to get up but was preventing from doing so as Miya's staff drove him back down and kept him from getting up.

"I'm only doing this to make sure that all of you are ready. One wrong move could cost you everything. You can't just beat Yuri with luck. You will have to actually outsmart him, you'll have to be faster than him, you'll need to see his attack coming before it does." said Miya before jumping back as Cye tried to attack her than Ryo come after her. "You'll have to be much faster than that. Yuri can see your attacks coming before you even make them. If you can't even beat me than you'll never beat Yuri. You need to work together as a whole if you hope to win." she said before also knocking Ryo down as well. "Ashiyu and I are as strong as Yuri but we can't defeat Yuri _and_ the Dynasty alone. We need your help, and we need to be ready soon before it's too late."

With that, Miya turned and walked away into the woods. She needed some time alone to think. She knew that the Ronin Warriors were strong already but she also knew that they weren't ready to face Yuri yet and she wanted to make sure they were, so they didn't make the same mistake that she did. She and Ashiyu had once had another friend who fought with them but he had been killed by Yuri because of a mistake that she had made. His name had been Raiden. He had joined her and Ashiyu to fight the Dynasty, but only ended up losing his life. He and Miya had even started to fall in love with one another and had even thought of marrying after they had defeated the Dynasty but now that would not be happening.

Miya had been blaming herself since Raiden's death, despite how much Ashiyu assured her that it was not her fault and telling her that Raiden wouldn't blame her either, but she believed otherwise. She had let down her guard for a moment but a moment was enough. Yuri attacked while her guard was down but the attack never hit her. Raiden had put himself in the way of the attack to protect her. He had died in her arms moments later. Ever since Miya had blamed herself for his death and would not forgive herself for what had happened. She had even trained herself harder so that she wouldn't make that same mistake again.

"Stay low, Soft, dark, and dreamless, Far beneath my nightmares and loneliness, I hate me, for breathing without you, I don't want to feel anymore for you;

"Grieving for you, I'm not grieving for you, Nothing real love can't undo, And though I may have lost my way, All paths lead straight to you;

"I long to be like you, Lie cold in the ground like you." Miya sang, thinking of Raiden as she did so.

Just then, there was a rustling in the trees. Miya was on full alert, holding her staff ready just in case it was Yuri or one of his minions. But it was only Ryo who walked through the trees.

"Ryo, what're you doing out here?" asked Miya, relaxing her grip on her staff.

"I came to check on you, make sure you were okay. You seemed kind of upset back there so I followed you than I heard you singing. That was beautiful. You have a nice voice." said Ryo.

"Thank you. I was singing about someone that I knew a long time ago, someone that I haven't seen in years." said Miya.

"Why? What happened?" asked Ryo.

"He's dead. He was killed by Yuri. He, Ashiyu and I were fighting Yuri and the Dynasty years ago. It seemed like we were fairing, but then I let my guard down and Raiden was the one that paid the price for it with his life. He died because he wanted to protect me. And ever since, I've been blaming myself for his death." said Miya.

"You made a mistake. And he died because he chose to. He wanted you to live so that you could accomplish what you couldn't then. He obviously cared about you a lot if he was willing to give his life for you." said Ryo.

"We were supposed to get married." said Miya as she stared down at the ground.

"He must have loved you dearly to make such a big sacrifice." said Ryo.

"That doesn't mean that I will forgive myself for making such a stupid mistake. I should never have let my guard down. And I don't want anyone to make my mistakes." said Miya.

"Well, there's always an easy solution to that little problem. Get the Ronin Warriors to surrender." said Ryo.

Surprised by what she heard Ryo say, she turned to look at him but when she looked at him, it wasn't Ryo standing there.

"Kane; I should've known that it was you." said Miya, holding her staff ready.

"Yes, well I figured that you would least suspect it was me if I were to disguise myself as the leader of the Ronin Warriors. Yuri sent me to give you a message. If you surrender now, he promises to have mercy on you and your friends." said Kane.

"Hmm, I highly doubt that. And we will _never _surrender to the Dynasty. The Ronin Warriors are going to destroy the Dynasty." said Miya.

"I'm afraid my brothers and I think differently." said Kane.

An attack came out of nowhere and Miya barely had time to dodge it but she managed to move out of the way in time. Unfortunately, the Amulet of Life also came out from under her shirt and before she could hide it again, Kane saw it.

"The Amulet of Life; Yuri has been searching long for that. With that, he'll be able to rule both worlds without anyone to question his power. Give it to me, and I may just get him to let you live." said Kane as two more men landed on either side of him.

"Never, I shall never let you or anyone else have this amulet. Like I would really give this to Yuri so he can destroy everything. I'd rather die first." said Miya.

"That can be arranged." said Kane. He looked to the man on his right. "Show her my brother Ryozo."

"My pleasure." said Ryozo, moving forward.

Just then, a white blur came out of nowhere, knocking Ryozo to the ground. It was Ryo's white tiger, Whiteblaze.

"Whiteblaze, come on!" said Miya as she ran for it with Whiteblaze running along with her, the two of them running deeper into the woods.

Once they were a good distance away and hidden, Miya stopped and knelt in front of Whiteblaze as she took off the amulet.

"Whiteblaze, I need you to do something for me. I need you to take the Amulet of Life back to my father. He'll understand. Right now, I just need to get it somewhere safe and right now, it's not safe with me. I know you wanna help and right now, the best thing you can do is get this to my father. Can you do that for me?" said Miya.

Whiteblaze roared in response and Miya took that as a yes. She handed the amulet to Whiteblaze, who took it in his mouth than ran back toward where Ashiyu, the Ronin's and Anubis were. She knew what she had to do. She had to keep Kane and his brothers distracted so Whiteblaze had time to get back to the others.

"Look brothers, she's making it easy for us." said Kane.

"I'll take care of her. Darkness Destruction!"

"Light of the Heavens!" shouted Miya, raising her staff and deflecting the attack than sending one of her own.

"Miya's been gone quite a while. I wonder if there was something that upset her for her to been gone for so long." said Ryo.

"I wonder if it was something we might of done." said Cye.

"No, it's nothing like that. She was upset but it was nothing you guys did. It was a memory, a memory that she's tried so hard to forget." said Ashiyu.

"What memory are you talking about?" asked Anubis.

"I can't tell you. She made me swear not to tell anyone." said Ashiyu.

"She is my daughter. I think that entitles me to know what kinds of things are troubling and upsetting my daughter." said Anubis.

"Miya...was in love once. His name was Raiden. We met him not long after her village was destroyed. He had family members killed by the Dynasty as well. He even joined us in our fight against the Dynasty. The two of them grew close over the time we spend fighting the Dynasty over the years, eventually falling in love. They were due to be married after we defeated the Dynasty.

"It was in one fight that Miya made a mistake which to this day she still deeply regrets. In a fight against Yuri, she let her guard down for a split second. Yuri attacked. Miya saw it coming at the last second but it wasn't enough time to save Raiden. He threw himself in front of the attack. He died several minutes later in Miya's arms. She still blames herself for his death." said Ashiyu.

"That's awful. No wonder she's been pushing us so hard. And I wanted to complain." said Kento, feeling bad now.

Just then, they all heard a roar behind them and turned to see Whiteblaze come out of the woods alone.

"Whiteblaze, where's Miya?" asked Ryo.

Whiteblaze walked over to Anubis, staring up at him for a minute before lowering his head to lie something on the ground at Anubis' feet. Anubis then bent down and picked it up.

"What is it Anubis?" asked Ryo.

"It's the amulet. Miya must have sent this back with Whiteblaze so she could get it as far from her as possible so that she knew it was safe." said Anubis.

"Why? Why would she do that?" asked Sage.

"She would only do that if she was in trouble." said Ashiyu, her tone full of worry.

"Alright, Rowen, you, Cye and Kento, you two stay here with Mia and Yulie. Anubis, Ashiyu, Sage and I will go find Miya. Whiteblaze, you'll have to lead us to her since you know where she is." said Ryo.

Whiteblaze roared in response, which said to them that it meant a yes.

The white tiger took off into the woods and the four of them followed him. They silently prayed that they would find Miya before anything bad happened to her.

Suddenly, there was an explosion not far off into the distance, making all five of them stop as they saw it and even felt the ground shake.

"Miya!" exclaimed Ashiyu.

"We should hurry." said Anubis as he hurried after Whiteblaze, who was still running toward where he had left Miya.

Ashiyu, Ryo, Rowen and Sage followed after the white tiger as well. They were concerned for Miya's well-being and safety as well. As they drew closer to the explosion, they could see several figures fighting and one of them they could see was Miya, and she wasn't fairing so well but she was still able to hold her own and stand her ground. She was tired though and she looked like she was a little hurt.

"We have to help her." said Ashiyu.

"You heard the lady guys, Miya needs us. Let's armor up." said Ryo. "Armor of Wildfire! Dao Jin!"

"Armor of Halo! Dao Chi!"

"To Arms!" shouted Anubis, transforming into his old Armor of Cruelty.

"We will have the pleasure of taking your head to Lord Yuri." said Kane as he headed at Miya, ready to strike her down.

Kane's weapon was deflected by Ryo and Sage's swords, just barely inches away from Miya's head and the two of them deflected Kane back away Miya.

"Oh look brothers, her friends have shown up to save her." said Ryozo.

"Sage, get Miya out of here. The rest of us can handle these guys." said Ryo.

"You got it." said Sage, putting his sword on his back, turning around and helping Miya up, and then heading out of there as quick as he could.

"You shouldn't have come for me." said Miya.

"We couldn't just leave you out here alone. We had to come save you." said Sage.

"You don't understand Sage." said Miya.

As soon as she said that, a blast came out of nowhere and knocked them to the ground. They ended up separated by some distance between them. Sage was on his feet in the blink of an eye with his sword out and ready, making his way over to where Miya sat. It was clear that she was tired and possibly hurt. She could not stand on her own right now, not having the energy to do so after her fight with Kane and his brothers. Sage took her by the hand and helped her up.

"I think we have company." said Sage, holding his sword ready in front of them. He was determined to protect Miya no matter what.

"Darkness Destruction!"

"Thunderbolt Cut!" yelled Sage.

The Thunderbolt Cut was meant to block the attack, but the attack cut right through Sage's Thunderbolt Cut and headed right at them. Sage used his body to shield Miya as the attack hit them. They hit the ground hard, Sage taking more of the shock of the attack and them hitting the ground than Miya. Before they could recover, another attack came at them.

"Black Lightning Slash!"

Another attack came out of nowhere and blocked the first. Then several figures walked out of the shadows and stood in front of Sage and Miya, as though they were their protectors. Both of them recognized them almost immediately.

"Cale. Dais. Sekmet." said Miya, a bit surprised to see the three former Warlords. "What're you guys doing here?"

"We're here to help of course." said Cale.

"Lady Kayura has been watching you guys and sent us to lend a hand." said Sekmet.

"That's Kayura for you." said Miya with a smile.

A voice cut through the darkness, disrupting them before anyone could say another word.

"It doesn't matter how many you have to help you, that amulet will soon belong to the Dynasty, along with each and every one of your heads. No one will be able to stop Lord Yuri and the Dynasty from ruling both worlds." said Kane.

Silence followed, which meant that Kane was no longer there and the danger was gone.


	3. Chapter 3: The Ties We Share

Since Miya was too weak to walk on her own right now, Sage carried her back to Mia's manor with Dais, Cale and Sekmet following behind him. Each of them stayed in their sub-armor in case they were attacked again. Miya ended up falling asleep with her head on Sage's shoulder. Sage actually didn't mind it. He could feel his heart racing with how close she was to him. He was confused by this feeling but thought he would meditate on it later.

When they reached the manor, they found that the others had already made it back and were waiting for them. Anubis immediately walked over and took his daughter from Sage's arms. Sage didn't like the absence of Miya held in his arms, but he knew that Anubis was deeply concerned for his daughter. He watched Anubis carry his daughter inside. Even though he was tired and sore himself, Sage refused to rest.

"Sage, are you okay? What happened?" asked Ryo as the other met him in the yard.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Miya's in pretty bad shape though. She's exhausted from her battle with Ryozo and his brothers and she may be hurt as well." said Sage.

"What happened out there? You were supposed to bring Miya back here safely." said Kento.

"We were attacked by Kane. He caught us by surprise. He would have had us too if it weren't for these guys." said Sage, pointing behind him at the three former Warlords.

"What are they doing here?" demanded Kento, getting in a defensive stance.

"Easy Kento, remember that they're on our side now." said Cye.

"Oh yeah." said Kento, relaxing.

No one noticed as Sage headed inside of the manor and searched for where Anubis had taken Miya. He found them in one of the spare bedrooms. Anubis had laid Miya in one of the beds and was sitting by her side. Anubis looked up at him when he came in.

"How is she?" asked Sage, making sure to keep his voice quiet.

"She's resting." said Anubis, getting up and heading toward the door.

"I'm sorry that she got hurt. I should've protected her better." said Sage.

"It's not your fault Sage."

Both Anubis and Sage turned to see that Miya was awake and was sitting up.

"Miya, you should be resting." said Anubis.

"I'm fine Dad." said Miya.

"Your father is right Mi, you need to rest." said Sage.

"Well I'm not going to rest until you and I talk." said Miya. She looked at her father.

Anubis knew that the look her daughter was giving him was asking him if he would leave the room, so he did. He had a suspicion about what she was about to talk to Sage about.

Miya motioned for Sage to sit down as she propped herself back against the headboard with her pillow between her back and the headboard.

Sage sat down on the bed next to Miya and waited for her to speak.

"Listen, I don't want you to be blaming yourself for what happened to me. I was already hurt and exhausted by the time you guys came for me. If you hadn't come for me, I couldn't have lasted much longer. You guys showed up in the nick of time because I don't think I could've been able to block that attack. You came for me and tried to protect me, that's all that matters." said Miya.

"We should have come for you sooner. I should have protected you better." said Sage.

"Sage, why are you blaming yourself like this? Why do you care for me so much?" asked Miya. She already knew the answer but she wanted to hear it from Sage himself.

"I'm not really completely sure myself. I just feel very protect over you, more than the other guys. I just feel different around you, better. I think..I think that I may like you." said Sage.

Miya couldn't help but smile. This was the answer she had been looking for. She decided to test Sage so she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his. She heard him moan in surprise but then felt his body relax and he kissed her back.

After a few minutes, the two of them pulled apart and just stared at one another.

"How long have you known?" asked Sage once he had found his voice again.

"I've noticed the way you look at me for the past few days. I was almost afraid to say anything to you about though." said Miya.

"But why?" asked Sage.

"Because I'm afraid to lose you like I did Raiden. You have no idea how scared I was earlier when you shielded me from that blast and took the hit. I thought…" said Miya, cut off from finishing her sentence as Sage pressed his lips to hers again. It was effective at silencing her but she was disappointed when he pulled away after a minute.

"I'm not gonna leave you." said Sage. It was all he could really think to say.

"Yeah, but you can't guarantee that something isn't going to happen and I could end up losing you. I don't know if I could handle that. I don't want to lose you like that." said Miya.

"Nothing is going to happen to me. I will always be right here with you, I promise. You are not going to lose me and I'm not gonna lose you. We're always be together no matter what. I will make sure of that if it takes every fiber of my being." said Sage.

"Sage. Please, just shut up and kiss me again." said Miya with a slight smile.

Sage couldn't help but smile as he leaned forward and reclaimed Miya's lips with his own.

That night, everyone took turns watching over Miya while she rested and healed. They didn't want her to be alone in case she was to be attacked. She wasn't strong enough to fight yet. Sage had taken the first watch naturally, but when he could no longer stay awake, Rowen took over.

Rowen thought back to when he had first seen the Ronin of Halo looking at Miya differently than all the others had. The others considered her just a friend while Sage had fallen for her. Rowen had been the first to notice and he had been the one to tell Miya about it. She had asked him for his advice, which he was willing to give. He had grown close to Miya and had come to see her as a sister. He trusted her more than he had trusted any girl in his life.

Just then, Miya stirred in her sleep. She rolled over onto her back and opened her eyes. She stared at the ceiling for a moment than saw Rowen sitting next to her bed.

"Hey. How long have you been watching over me?" asked Miya.

"A few hours at least. Sage wanted to stay with you, but he was just too exhausted." said Rowen.

"Yeah, he took a good hit from Kane. You know, you guys really don't need to watch over me. You need your rest as much as I do." said Miya.

"I know, but we're not taking any chances. Right now, you're not strong enough to fight anyone." said Rowen.

"Fair enough." said Miya, carefully sitting up and stretching a little. "Hey, thanks for your advice earlier, it helped."

"Just glad to help. You can come to me anytime, I'm always available." said Rowen.

"Yeah, well, the same goes for you." said Miya.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" asked Rowen.

"Oh come on, I've seen the look in your eyes. I can tell there's something you're keeping hidden. You can't hide it from me Rowen. Come on, tell me what it is that has you so troubled." said Miya.

Rowen looked down, away from Miya.

"Come on Rowen, you can tell me. You can talk to me about anything. I know we haven't known each other very long, but you can trust me." said Miya.

"It's not that, it's just…it's something that I've never talked to anyone about." said Rowen.

"Well, you can talk to me about it. And if you don't want me to say anything to anyone else than I won't, it'll stay between us." said Miya.

Rowen sighed deeply, running a hand through his blue locks.

"I've never been really close to my parents. My mom is always traveling and she prefers to treat my father and I more like friends than family. She's an international journalist. She and my dad divorced when I was twelve. I'm not sure how much my father even cares about me on account I don't get to see him. I pretty much grew up alone until I became a Ronin Warrior. The guys are the only friends I've had. I don't have any brothers or sisters." he said.

Miya reached out her hand and took hold of Rowen's, holding onto it gently with her own hand. This caused him to look up at her, a little off guard and maybe even a little surprised.

"Well, now you do." said Miya with a smile. She did love Rowen like a brother. She didn't have any siblings herself. Her mom was killed when she was a child so now it was just her and her father. And now, she was adding a brother to her family tree, even if he wasn't truly related to her but she didn't care.

Rowen couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks Mi, you have no idea how much this means to me." he said, holding her hand gently and putting his other hand on top.

"No, I think I do. But you're welcome anyway" said Miya, still smiling at him.

Right then, they both heard Miya's stomach growl. They both couldn't help but laugh a little.

"I suppose I should eat something." said Miya, moving to get up.

"Let me get it for you. You shouldn't get out of bed just yet." said Rowen, putting his hand on her shoulder to keep her from getting up.

"Thanks Rowen." said Miya, settling back on the bed.

"Hey, it's not a problem. Just don't expect me to cook anything fancy, that's Cye's area." said Rowen with a smile.

Miya couldn't help but smile herself, giggling a little.

Miya had never known what it was like to have any siblings growing up. Her mother had wanted to have more kids, but then her father had disappeared which made it impossible for that to happen. Then her village was attacked and her mother was killed protecting her. For the longest time, she grew up alone. She trained herself the way that her father had taught her so she could get revenge for her mother's death. That was when she met Ashiyu. Ashiyu's family had also been attacked by the Dynasty and her brother taken. The two continued training together until they met the Ancient One. He taught them that seeking revenge would not help them and they ended up joining him on his quest to defeat the Dynasty.

Both Miya and Ashiyu learned from the Ancient One, learning the ways of his clan. They had learned a lot from him and Miya had even learned from him what had happened to her father and how the Ancient had saved him from the Dynasy, which she was extremely thankful for. She loved her father very much and even though she was saddened when she learned of his death, she was proud of him for the things he had done toward the end, even saving Lady Kayura, who was the last of the Ancient clan, from the hold of the Dynasty. And now she had a second chance with her father thanks to the amulet. She was not going to waste this chance either.

Miya suddenly realize that it was taking Rowen a good while to come up with her food. She decided to go see what was taking him. She carefully climbed out of bed, putting on her slippers and walking downstairs, heading for the kitchen, being cautious at the same time.

"Rowen?" called out Miya as she walked in to the kitchen.

No one was in there. Now she knew that there was something going on. Then she felt a breeze and turned to see the front door was open. She knew that Ro wouldn't leave the front door hanging open so she went outside to investigate, grabbing her staff that was sitting by the door. She didn't see anything at first when she went out. It was dark and quiet.

Just then, she felt someone grab her arm and whirled around to see it was Sage.

"Whoa, hey, it's just me!" exclaimed Sage.

"Sage, you scared me. Don't sneak up on me like that." said Miya.

"I'm sorry. What are you doing out of bed?" asked Sage.

"Rowen's missing." said Miya.

"What?" asked Sage.

"Yeah, he came down to get me something to eat. When he took too long, I came to see what was keeping him, but he's gone." said Miya.

"No need to worry, you're precious little friend is right here."

Both Sage and Miya whirled around at the voice and saw Yuri, holding Rowen hostage with a sword to his throat. Rowen must have been caught by surprise because he didn't even have his sub-armor on. He may not have had the chance to put it on.

"Rowen!" exclaimed Sage at seeing his friend looking helpless.

"Let him go Yuri!" yelled Miya. She didn't want to see Rowen get hurt because of her.

"I don't think so. He may prove to be of use to me." said Yuri and he started heading backwards, heading for the woods and taking Rowen with him.

"No!" yelled Miya as she and Sage ran after him.

Sage jumped through the trees and was able to eventually cut Yuri off.

Miya stood behind Yuri, ready for anything. She held her staff ready. She could see Sage standing ready, his sub-armor already on.

"We're not going to let you take him Yuri, not without a fight." said Miya, pulling her staff apart to reveal that it was actually two swords.

"Surrender, or I will kill him now." said Yuri, pulling the sword closer to Rowen's neck and making him groan in pain.

"Stop it!" yelled Miya.

"Then throw down your weapons." said Yuri.

"Don't do it Miya!" said Rowen.

Miya was fighting with herself. On one hand, she wanted to listen to Rowen, but on the other, she wanted to throw down her swords so that he wouldn't get hurt.

"Surrender now!" demanded Yuri.

"Miya, don't! Just get out of here, don't worry about me!" said Rowen.

"Shut up you brat!" yelled Yuri, using the handle of the sword to hit Rowen in the stomach, making him groan more in pain than the blade of the sword immediately returned to his neck.

"Let Rowen go you piece of garbage!" demanded Sage.

"Surrender or he shall suffer greatly more." said Yuri.

Not wanting to see Rowen suffer anymore, Miya put her swords back together into a staff and let it fall from her hand.

"Very wise." said Yuri.

Suddenly, two attacks came out of nowhere and hit both Miya and Sage. Miya could hear Sage yelling as well as herself. She felt her back hit against a tree than her body hit the ground. The last thing she heard before she fell unconscious was the sound of Rowen's voice yelling her name.


End file.
